Originally from West Africa, Sampson Akwafuo, associate professor of computer science, has led an incredible life. He has faced extraordinary hardships, traveled across the globe in pursuit of meaningful education, and has triumphed in his profession. Throughout his collegiate career, he won multiple awards, scholarships, and grants and he has published numerous papers on his specialization: tackling global infectious diseases with computational epidemiology.

Now, Akwafuo works with students from the College of Engineering & Computer Science in his Computational Epidemiology, Disaster, and Data Intelligence (CEDDI) lab, developing computational tools to empower disease outbreak response and prediction abilities.

A Complex & Consequential Journey

Akwafuo grew up in a rural part of southeastern Nigeria, where his family fought to access basic necessities like food and water. He remembers walking long distances to school, and when he reached high school, acquiring the funds to cover educational fees was a monumental task. Eventually, he was forced to drop out – until his mother made the remarkable sacrifice of selling her personal belongings so he could finish.

“I almost abandoned education entirely,” Akwafuo says. “Despite these excruciating challenges, I set life goals and remained focused on them, including educational pursuits.”

After successfully completing high school, Akwafuo attended the Federal University of Technology in Owerri, Nigeria, one of the premier technology universities in the country. There, he double-majored in mathematics and computer science.

“I was curious about why some machines behaved in a particular manner, and the notion of ‘computer’ was fascinating to me,” says Akwafuo. “There were very few computers in the entire university, however, and toward the end of my undergraduate studies, it became clear that the level of computing knowledge I was aspiring to was only available beyond the shores of Nigeria.”

“My story, right from childhood, has been one of persistence, perseverance, and tenacity.”

Sampson Akwafuo, associate professor of computer science and director of the CEDDI lab

Determined, Akwafuo began scouting graduate schools in Europe, especially Scotland. He was inspired by famous inventors and scientists he’d read about from the country, as well as a group of elite Scottish alumni in Nigeria, whom he admired. Eventually, he chose Glasgow Caledonian University, earning his Master of Science there.

“Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University proved to be a home away from home,” he says. “I’m happy I chose to go there.”

During his time in Europe, Akwafuo became interested in using computational techniques to monitor, evaluate, study, and analyze infectious diseases, even predicting outbreak trajectories, while working with nongovernmental organizations led by the Department for International Development in 2013. With the support of these agencies, Akwafuo and others developed valuable computational tools, including frameworks for monitoring and evaluating public health programs, and trained national and regional workforces on how to use them.

“In Nigeria, this work translated to the establishment of the National HIV Resource Center, which was envisioned to serve as a reference center for HIV research activities in Nigeria and beyond,” Akwafuo says. “When I saw firsthand how computational tools and techniques could be applied to public health, I decided to acquire further training to enhance my contributions to the global fight against infectious diseases.”

After completing his master’s degree, Akwafuo traveled to the U.S. and earned a Ph.D. in computational epidemiology from the University of North Texas. With his education complete, he began to look for career and research opportunities and found himself drawn to Cal State Fullerton.

“I’ve always wanted to be in California. I admire the weather and the cosmopolitan status,” he says. “When I found CSUF and ECS, I was impressed with their organizational structures, programs, and courses, especially the bioinformatics area of the Department of Computer Science. I knew that my concentration on computational epidemiology research would complement their bioinformatics training and research opportunities.”

The faculty – whom Akwafuo reports were extremely excited, helpful, and welcoming – also played a role in his decision to join ECS. In particular, Dean Susan Barua’s support, encouragement, and outreach meant a lot to him and helped him finalize his decision. In 2021, Akwafuo officially joined the Department of Computer Science, where he now combats global infectious diseases alongside ECS students as the director of the CEDDI lab.

Computational Epidemiology: The Fight to Improve & Save Lives

Computational epidemiology is an emerging, impactful field that focuses on applying computational methods to epidemiological areas. It studies and develops tools for modeling, simulating, predicting, and visualizing the spread of diseases, using interdisciplinary techniques from computer science, mathematics, statistics, biology, and geo-informatics.

“Sudden outbreaks of infectious diseases remain one of the leading problems that plague humanity,” says Akwafuo. “Fighting global infectious diseases is an enormous undertaking that requires concerted efforts of governments, public health officials, researchers, local specialists, and others. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) often have weak, strained, or limited availability of public health systems and resilience infrastructure, so they suffer the greatest losses from disease outbreaks.”

Accurately predicting the occurrence or outbreak of a disease can help public health officials effectively and proactively plan response and mitigation actions, such as optimizing logistics and the location and allocation of emergency operation centers and vaccination centers. This is one of the main focuses of the CEDDI lab.

“We’ve previously developed algorithms to optimize emergency response activities, and we’re working on developing machine learning models that predict community disease outbreaks, mostly for Lassa fever in specific regions,” says Akwafuo.

The current Lassa fever project in the CEDDI lab is of particular significance for lab members due to the risk it poses on a global scale. Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic illness that’s spread through rodents and infected humans, is endemic in most West African countries, including Nigeria, and some cases have been reported in the U.S.

The average fatality rate in hospitalized Lassa fever patients is around 15 to 20 percent, but that rate can reach as high as 50 percent during epidemics. The illness has caught the attention of entities like the World Health Organization and Gavi, the latter of which has expressed concern that Lassa fever might become a global pandemic.

“We’re hoping to fully develop these machine learning models in the next few years, pilot them in the field in conjunction with local public health authorities in target regions, and strengthen our collaboration with other labs and universities that have similar research interests, such as Georgia State University,” says Akwafuo.

The CEDDI lab is working on other projects as well, such as mobile apps to improve reporting of gender-based violence and the care of HIV+ persons in LMICs. “Our students are always excited to learn about the impact their knowledge and skills can have on real-world problems, notably in public health,” Akwafuo says.

Currently, five ECS students are working on various computational epidemiology projects in the CEDDI lab, with more students expected to join them in the summer. Akwafuo notes that even more may be brought on in fall 2023 if pending applications for external funding are approved.

“Student-led projects are the hallmark of our research activities,” he says. “You’d be amazed at the diverse opinions and perspectives they bring to the table, and the impact on them has been huge. The skills and experiences they’ve gained have helped shape their future careers.”

Participating in CEDDI lab projects has helped launch the professional success of several students. After presenting at the ACM Tapia Conference in Washington, D.C., in 2022, one student was offered a full-time position with a notable employer after they graduate this spring. Another student’s submission was selected to be presented at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, and several CEDDI students have published papers as undergraduates.

A Future of Hope & Opportunities

Akwafuo states that his journey and successes were made possible through Herculean efforts and divine intervention.

“My story, right from childhood, has been one of persistence, perseverance, and tenacity,” Akwafuo says. It’s safe to say that he brings this same determination and resolve to his passion for improving health and combating infectious diseases worldwide.

CEDDI lab members are still developing and testing the computational applications needed for their vision to fully come to life, and Akwafuo is full of hope for the future.

“We will continue to research life-impacting computational techniques for public health issues and to establish and maintain collaborations with national and regional agencies working in this area,” he says. He also hopes to make the CEDDI lab a universitywide research center on computational approaches to public health.